


Boundaries

by PepperCat



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff without Plot, Friends With Benefits, Hang-ups, Hartley is not so good at admitting that things make him uncomfortable, Late Night Conversations, M/M, No Sex, Talking, almost getting into a fight, being defensive, he has a reputation to maintain you know, inferred because while Axel is good at noticing things, it's like admitting to not being perfect about everything, mentioned handcuffs, offscreen under-negotiated kink, talking after sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-29 23:18:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13937565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperCat/pseuds/PepperCat
Summary: Axel poking for details about a dislike he's noticed.Fluff of little consequences, briefly argumentative and then nice enough. Rating is for subject matter, not for content.





	Boundaries

**Author's Note:**

> (I had three handwritten pages of this in my notebook in glittery pink ink, and the notebook is nearly full. I figured I'd share this before I put it away.)

It's dark and not-really-quiet, but the playlist's switched to something that's as mellow as Axel ever gets, this pulsy kind of electronic track. Axel can hear himself breathing, but that's pretty much it since they're both lying there not moving. Piper, he guesses, can hear more. He wonders if sweat drying actually makes a sound and grins.

He could put this off for forever, he guesses, but he kinda wants to know.

"Pipes?" he says into the dark.

There's a murmur in answer, a kind of happy quiet sound. Axel reaches out and runs the back of his hand down Piper's side, pushing aside the sheet.

"Babe," he says, "what's with you and cuffs?"

He didn't think he was hearing anything, but he still notices there's suddenly less noise behind the music. Utter silence for a minute, and then "I can't imagine what you mean," flat and quiet. But Piper hasn't lunged for the edge of the bed, his clothes, and the door (in that order), so the conversation's actually going pretty well.

"I get the feeling," Axel says, cheerfully because he's trying not to laugh, "that if I even mention them, you stress out. And-- like, you don't do that if it's just about holding you down, you know?" Piper hasn't pulled away, and Axel rolls onto his side and up on his elbow, runs his hand down Piper's chest. He can see him a little, even in the dark, all still. The other man's heart is beating fast and hard; Axel can feel it shivering the skin under his fingers.

"I don't," Piper says, voice all tight. "You're right. Was there a question in there?"

"Why not?"

"Does it matter?" Piper turns towards him, but it's not friendly; he's got his arms between them, and it's all _I want to keep an eye on you_. "You know I don't like it."

"Sure," Axel says, because Piper's right and that actually kind of matters, "but I don't know because you told me."

"I didn't realize you were so particular about your sources." Piper's voice is dry and sharp, all disdain, the kind he brandishes like a knife. Axel wonders why the fuck he's even bothering.

"Right. Sure." He pulls his hand back. Pipes'd already shaken it off when he turned, but Axel hadn't really bought into the rejection until now. He thinks he could come up with something flattering like Piper always does, _who else'm I gonna pay attention to_ , but he's getting tired of the guy just being pissy.

If it was Denny, the indifference would have started a fight. Here and now, he just sees Piper's mouth pulling down for a second, and then the guy's softening a little, his shoulders hunching less.

"If this isn't--" he starts and then stops, and glances past Axel. It isn't. "I don't owe you that story."

"I don't need the fucking _story_ ," Axel says, and there's that flicker of grief on Piper's face again. "Just tell me what you don't like before I trip over it, you--" He catches it, and maybe he's not really in the mood to try to be nice, Piper's being a snippy jerk, but it's not worth being _mean_. He rolls his eyes instead. "It's like fucking you in a minefield, Christ."

Piper sniffs and at least the sad look on his face goes away. What's there is something closer to irritation, which Axel is at least used to handling in general. "Please tell me you're not speaking from experience."

Axel laughs. "Not technically," he agrees, and lies down off his elbow. Piper doesn't reach out, but at least stops holding himself in so much, and that's encouraging. "Pipes. Seriously. I'd've sworn it'd be the kind of thing you were into, you know? Just..." Not knowing the backstory bugs him a little, he guesses, but that's not really it. "I can be careful, okay?" It's not _fun_ if whoever you're with isn't having fun. "You just never tell me when I need to be."

Piper shrugs and looks away, but he's not doing either the glass-poise thing or the tense thing, and when Axel loops an arm across him he leans forward and it's warm, easy as things get. Not feel-your-heartbeat-hand-in-your-hair close, just sleepy-movie-night close.

"It's not that they're not a lovely idea," Piper says after a moment. "I've just picked up a few unpleasant associations with them. It's stressful."

Piper hung up on something that happened before, what a surprise, Axel will fall over and die from not-surprise. But he's actually got the guy talking now, so he doesn't say that and doesn't start asking for details (or a name, or an address) because that would shut Piper up _so_ fast that it's actually not funny.

"Them being around at all, or just on you?" 'cause Pipes is weirdly literal sometimes and if he has to, Axel will explain that the stuff he said _sure, if you get me in cuffs_ about doesn't have to be _actual_ cuffs, but before he starts _that_ conversation he wants to know if it needs to be a thing--

"Just me."

Axel nods. "'kay," he says. "That's it? I mean, the stuff you don't like. Handcuffs and being told you're mine, right?" Because he's pretty sure Piper doesn't even like it when someone talks about _my guy_ as in _my tech guy can handle that_ , and he _loves_ it when people talk about how he's good at his work. Especially if it's the Ice Dad.

"That's not as bad," Piper says, which Axel honestly did not expect, but okay.

"Want me to keep not doing it anyway?"

There's a pause and then a stiff sort of nod that he can feel against his shoulder, and he's pretty sure Piper's looking past him again.

"Okay," he says cheerfully, because at least now he knows there's nothing else and he doesn't want it to be weird. "Okay, that's cool. You ever figure out something else that doesn't work, tell me, okay?"

Piper makes the grudging humming noise that means _I suppose_ , which is agreeing when he doesn't want to admit he's doing it. "What were you going to call me?"

"When?"

"Right before you said that thing about the minefield." Piper turns a little, but it's only to go belly-down on the sheets, turns his head and pillows it on his arms to gaze at Axel.

"Oh." Axel shrugs. "I don't know. You're a dope sometimes, you know that?"

"I know you say so."

Axel laughs, and lets it go. They can get up in a bit--it's not early, but it doesn't feel like one of the nights Pipes falls asleep in his bed--but for now he's just happy to lie there and run his hand down Piper's spine, drum out a beat that matches the music with his fingers and know he hasn't missed anything.


End file.
